The ROC has had the Feed Control Act in place since its promulgation on January 12, 1973. It was revised again in 2002. Since then, there have been several animal feed scandals, including one in 2004 involving Pedigree pet food, one in 2008 involving melamine, one in 2012 involving the use of industrial copper sulfate in animal feed, and one in 2014 involving cooking oil adulterated with animal feed oil or recycled cooking oil. These scandals attracted widespread attention to the issues of safety and sanitary standards for animal feed. The COA, after taking into consideration the ROC’s own Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation as well as the regulations in various other countries, recommended that the Feed Control Act be amended. The current amended version was promulgated on February 4, 2015. It provides for regulatory systems for sourcing and traceability of animal feed, and also for genetically modified animal feed, and will serve as a valuable tool to hold the line on food safety on behalf of citizens.

　　The major features of the amendments, their impact, and changes in related bylaws and regulations, are detailed here:

■  On December 2, 2015, the COA announced two positive lists, one governing animal feed, and the other animal feed additives, for livestock, poultry, and aquaculture. Feed or feed additives not publicly announced as permissible by the COA are banned.

■ Animal feed and animal feed additives (hereafter AF/AFA) cannot be used in food for human consumption. Also, feed manufacturers may not produce food for human consumption. The goal is to thoroughly prevent any leaking of animal feed ingredients into food for human consumption, and to ensure separate production facilities for animal and human foods.

■  We have also constructing a traceability system, using electronic receipts at defined points in the production process:

● Under the “Regulations Governing Traceability of Feed and Feed Additives,” announced by the COA on August 31 of 2015, operators in the industry must: (a) keep records of the sources and flows of AF/AFA, and (b) preserve certification documents or evidence for five years. In addition, for specific AF/AFA announced by the COA, or for operations of a given scale as determined by the COA, operators must send data about sourcing and flows to the traceability databank. The COA had previously announced that, as of October 31 of 2014, businesses dealing in oils used in animal feed are required to report flows of their feed oil products to a centralized reporting system.

● Feed operators who have been publicly designated by the COA now use electronic sales receipts, so that in the future it will be possible to instantly access accurate production-and-sales data.

■  Genetically modified AF/AFA must pass review and inspection. On January 4 of 2016, the COA announced the “Regulations of Permission and Inspection on Genetically Modified Feed or Feed Additives,” which stipulate the procedures for application. Applications shall include testing and inspection data and other relevant documents and safety assessments. Items can only be fed to animals after they are approved.

■  The COA also has formally stipulated certain materials that cannot be used in AF/AFA. On July 14 of 2015 we announced two main points. (1) Anything that includes any of the following items cannot be used in AF/AFA: (i) industrial waste material, (ii) products that re-use industrial waste material, or (iii) materials that sanitation agencies have recycled into raw materials. (There is an exception: Under other pre-existing laws and regulations, certain industrial waste materials or products made re-using industrial waste materials may be used in AF/AFA. These do not fall under the new restrictions.) (2) Ruminant materials including meat, meat and bone meal, meat meal, bone meal, blood meal, greaves, fat, offal, or other carcass parts, may not be used in animal feed for ruminants. These measures will help prevent materials from entering the food chain that: (a) could harm animal health; or (b) could affect the sanitary standards or safety of livestock, poultry, and aquacultural products.

■  We now offer rewards for reporting violations. On September 10 of 2015 the COA announced new regulations providing rewards for people who bring violations of the Feed Control Act to the attention of the authorities, which we hope will have a deterrent effect on operators tempted to violate the rules on AF/AFA.

■  Imports of AF/AFA must be inspected. Any imports that appear on the COA’s publicly announced list of AF/AFA must pass testing and inspection to prove that they meet required standards; only then will customs authorities permit them to enter the country. This is part of the implementation of “control at the source.”

■  Finally, we have increased criminal and administrative penalties for violations of the Feed Control Act. In cases where profits earned exceed the maximum allowable fine, violators may be punished by up to 10 times their sales revenue for the period during which they were in violation of the law.